Grayslake Central edges Vernon Hills in deliberate fashion

Just about every basketball team is trying to play an up-tempo style these days.

The Grayslake Central and Vernon Hills boys are no different.

However, run-and-gun might not be in the cards for either team this season. It certainly wasn't on Friday night, as Grayslake Central scratched out a not-so-pretty 42-37 win over host Vernon Hills.

At halftime, the score was tied at just 16 points apiece.

“We're playing a lot of these 30- and 40-point games and I'm a guy who likes to push the tempo,” said Grayslake Central coach Kosta Kougias, sounding very much like Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty in his post-game comments. “I just told the guys that maybe it's time I go back and self-reflect and say, ‘Hey, maybe we're not as good at transition as I thought and let's find what we're really good at, and that's in the half-court set.' ”

Grayslake Central patiently worked its offense and pounded the ball inside to 6-foot-6 senior forward Jack Beckman. He finished with a game-high 16 points and was the only player in the game to reach double-figures. He also had 8 rebounds.

“What's happened is that we've recognized that we've got the size and we can hopefully slow the tempo down a little bit and work it (into the paint),” Kougias said. “Tonight was evident of that. I wanted to push the ball at first and we had 12 first-half turnovers. We slowed it down in the second half and had 6 turnovers. Maybe that's the way to go.”

Beckman is in favor of whatever produces a win.

“We started off a little sloppy, but I guess I can't complain, a win is a win,” said Beckman, who nailed 3 key free throws down the stretch to help the Rams ice the victory. “I just wanted to come out and get a ‘W.” I wasn't going to (accept) any excuses. I took a little bit of control in the third and fourth quarter and I started to attack the lanes and my teammates hit open shots.”

The win stops a two-game skid for Grayslake Central, which is now 4-5 on the season. Vernon Hills, meanwhile, drops to 6-4. The Cougars, who were led by Michael Dougherty's 9 points, have been having many of the same problems Grayslake Central has had on offense. Putting points on the board doesn't always come easily.

“We knew it would be a dogfight defensively because we've had some trouble scoring the ball this season,” McCarty said. “(We like up-tempo), but you've got to have the guys who can put it in the basket.

“But I really liked the effort tonight. You just try to dig in on defense. Grayslake Central just made some baskets when we tried to get over the hump and we could never get any separation.”

Vernon Hills, down by eight points about two minutes into the fourth quarter, got close to getting over the hump a couple times in the final minutes.

Tanner Tolari hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the Grayslake Central lead to 34-32 with 4:18 left.

But Beckman then hit free throws and a big bucket in the paint to keep the Cougars just out of reach.

“Our (big men, including 6-foot-5 forward Zack Cashmore and forward David Kienzle) played awesome,” Kougias said. “You know, Jack brings it every night.

“You want to reward that effort. We haven't done that. We haven't had the execution we've needed to reward the effort with a win. Tonight was a good one. It was good for us to build on some confidence.”